Just A Crush
by Xylion
Summary: [FE:SS] Ephraim stumbles across Tana's diary... and makes a startling revelation. EphraimTana. Not a oneshot.


In case you don't know, I'm Xelion, with one letter of my author name changed. I found out that Xelion is a marketing and IT company…

I'm assuming Eirika, Ephraim, and Tana are all 18 in the game. I'm also assuming Innes is 19.

EDIT: Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

**Just a Crush**

Ephraim walked into the, thankfully, empty tent. He despised himself for walking into a tent that wasn't even his without any permission, but seeing that all he needed was the maps of the Rausten wilderness and nothing more, he could excuse himself this once. Although if the owner of the tent were to discover him lurking there, they might jump to the wrong conclusion, especially since the tent belonged to Innes and Tana.

He began to search the tent, although it wasn't very big, and within two minutes he realized that the maps were not in there. He sighed, defeated, and started to leave, thinking that another member of the army might have them. However, he turned a bit abruptly and accidentally knocked Tana's pillow off of her cot. Picking it up, he was about to put it back where it belonged when he noticed something undoubtedly attempted to be hidden under the pillow.

It was a small blue book. Ephraim wondered what it could be… could someone have stolen battle plans (though he had never seen the book before) and hid them here, as a benevolent joke? Considering this possibility, he hastily picked it up and began reading. He soon found that it was not battle plans of any sort, but Tana's three-year-old diary.

His first thought was to place the diary back where it originally was, as he didn't want to be a snoop; after all, a diary was a personal thing. But his second thought was that the diary may contain information on Grado, since Tana was held captive at one of their fortresses, and he was, although he wasn't proud of it, curious. Feeling extremely guilty, he started to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me! Vanessa, one of the Pegasus knights in Frelia's service, gave me this diary as a birthday present, wasn't that nice of her? I hope that I can find something just as good to give to her for her own birthday._

_Well, I woke up today feeling extremely excited. After all, it's not every day that you turn 15, right? Because of the occasion, Father was throwing a party and inviting the royal family of Renais! My dad, Hayden, and the King of Renais, Fado, are really good friends. I also heard that he has two kids my age! Oh, I was so nervous! I've never been around people my own age before; usually I spend time with Innes or Vanessa and Syrene (they're older than me too. Or at least they act older than I do). Thoughts like 'What if they don't like me?' and 'What if I don't like them?' kept crossing my mind._

_Then I thought, 'Oh… I'm making such a big deal out of this.' I just want to enjoy my celebration, and that just complicated things. I was determined to have a good time, no matter what._

_But still… I hoped I would like them!_

_After I got up, I went to pick out the dress I was going to wear to the party. I've been planning it for weeks, after all, I was measured and waited on by eager seamstresses during that time to the point where it was a relief to finish and just wear it. It's a nice turquoise color, which, according to Father, "brings out my eyes". I quickly pulled it on, careful not to rip the fine material._

_After that, I studied myself in my mirror. I looked okay, although I was never one to over exaggerate my look. But one thing was sticking out so badly that I had to fix it._

_My hair had come up in a giant ball of dark blue fuzz. No, Diary, I'm not exaggerating. It looked terrible, and I had to do something about it. So I grabbed some nearby soap, filled up a basin with water, and dunked my hair under, scrubbing all the while and keeping my dress out of the way of the offending water._

_After a few minutes, I lifted my head up and ran a comb through my tangled hair. Making sure that it was as tame as I could make it, I added some conditioner to it, all the while avoiding staining my dress. After this battle against my hair, I apprehensively glanced into a mirror._

_I was so shocked, diary! It didn't just become tame, it shone! Seriously! I was so happy with it! I hoped Father, Innes, and the family from Renais would like it._

_Feeling ecstatic, I strolled out of my bedroom and down into the dining room. There, I met my brother, Innes. He's a year older than I am, and as for his personality… well, you'll find out later._

"_Good morning Innes," I greeted him with a cheery wave of my hand._

_He smiled back (it was an awfully small smile, though) and said, "Morning, Tana. Happy birthday. Father's waiting outside for the King of Renais's family. Let's go." He turned and headed outside. I hastened to catch up to him and engrossed him into conversation with me._

"_So Innes, what do you think the kids are going to be like?" I asked him as we walked. "Did you hear, they're supposed to be around our age."_

_Innes didn't say anything for a moment; we just kept walking at a brisk pace. I forgot to mention, Innes isn't really a morning person, and maybe my cheeriness was a little too much for him. When he did speak again, however, his voice had no irritation in it._

"_I'm not sure. And I don't particularly care. But I think Father said that one of them was an excellent fighter," he answered with excited glint in his eye. "If he's as good as Father says, then I have to test his skills once he gets here."_

_I nodded excitedly, but I sighed on the inside. Typical Innes, diary. He's as competitive as they come, and he always tries to be the best in everything. Because of that, most people find him hard to get along with, but not me! I know the real him, and even though he says mean and arrogant, he's a loving, caring guy deep down. I just hope he doesn't scare the prince and princess away. _

_We saw Father at the entrance hall. After exchanging many kisses, hugs, and Happy Birthdays, I began questioning him about the King of Renais and his children. He said that he and the King (Fado) were friends from childhood, and he said that the kids were very nice and easy to get along with. After I learned that, we heard a carriage park outside moments later._

_A man about Father's age came in first. He had dark blue hair and a blue beard and was wearing green regal-looking robes. He and Father greeted each other eagerly. I took him to be the king of Renais, and politely smiled as he shook both mine and Innes' hands. After this, the twins entered._

_Father wasn't kidding; they WERE identical… or very close to identical. They both had aquamarine hair and turquoise eyes, and they were within an inch of each other's heights._

_The girl had longer, sleeker hair than her brother, and a very nice smile. She kept near her brother, but a she had a look of independence on her face. She wore a red and white dress that looked nice on her._

_Her brother had fairly long hair that almost fell into his eyes, and he wore a smile too. His facial features showed sheer determination, but when he looked at his sister, his features became loving. He too smiled as he shook hands with Father, and looked over at Innes and me. I don't know why, but when he caught my eye, my insides felt like a hand had squeezed them tightly. Innes showed no sign that he was aware of his kind and polite looks towards us but instead strolled boldly over to him._

"_So," he began, looking the prince of Renais in the eye, "you must be Ephraim of Renais."_

_He nodded. "Yes, that would be me. And you must be Innes. It's a pleasure to meet you." He extended a hand. Innes eyed it for a fraction of a second, then he grasped it briskly._

"_Likewise," he answered, apparently trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. "My father speaks very highly of your skills. Are you up for a challenge?"_

_I sighed internally again. I suppose you now know he is really straightforward, Diary?_

_Ephraim raised an eyebrow, but responded confidently, "Of course. What shall it be? Fencing? Jousting? Archery?"_

"_Archery," replied Innes immediately. Archery is his forte. Once, he defeated a famous archer in a contest when he was younger. "We have some spare bows here, since it seems you didn't bring one. Shall we go?"_

"_Yes, but first I need to do something," Ephraim turned to his twin. "Eirika, will you be all right here on your own?"_

_His twin, Eirika, looked at him and smiled nervously. "I'll be fine, Brother. Enjoy your challenge." Ephraim smiled back, and he and Innes went to get permission from their fathers._

_When Ephraim looked at his sister like that, I felt something… I think it was jealousy. Their relationship is… so loving. They actually seem to care about each other, and they aren't afraid to show it! I know Innes cares for me, but he seems so unkind at other times._

_Apparently, I was thinking to myself for a long time, because soon afterwards, Father motioned me into the dining hall, having just previously allowed Innes and Ephraim to compete against each other. Not wanting to be left behind, I jogged to keep up with them, and decided to chat with Eirika on the way._

"_Hi, I'm Tana, and you must be Princess Eirika!" I chirped enthusiastically. Eirika turned and smiled._

"_Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you," she answered serenely. "Oh, and Happy Birthday! You're turning fifteen, right? That means we're roughly the same age, give or take a few months."_

_I smiled back. We continued to banter even after we arrived at the dining room. I learned a lot about her, her favorite foods, her favorite hobbies (I was surprised to discover she was learning the art of swordplay from her brother, but not entirely amazed, since I'm vying to become an honorable Pegasus knight), among other subjects. We tended to drift towards the subject of our brothers often (I often had to remind myself to talk about MY brother)._

_Eventually, we grew bored and wondered what our brothers were up to. Our fathers sensed this and allowed us to go look for them. Searching the castle high and low, we soon remembered that they were having their archery contest, and we headed down to the castle grounds. However, once we left the interior of the castle, we saw them a few yards away, their bows replaced with spears. They seemed to be sparring vigorously._

_Innes was heavily panting; he wasn't very experienced when it came to close combat, although I think part of the heavy breathing was due to his frustration, as he seemed to be losing. As he narrowly dodged a sharp jab from Ephraim, he noticed Eirika and me approaching. Pointing over his shoulder at us, Ephraim spun around and their fighting ceased._

"_Hi," Ephraim greeted us, and we waved back._

"_You moved on to another contest so quickly?" Eirika asked, astounded._

"_Well, I won our first match, but Ephraim challenged me to a rematch. We decided to spar," Innes replied. "What are you doing out here?"_

"_We got tired of our fathers' talking," I responded. "So we decided to find you." I suddenly felt a boldness that Innes' facial expression often showed. "Ephraim, you're very good with a spear, by the way." After that, I could have sworn I felt my face heat up. Ephraim looked as if he was going to say something to me, but Innes cut him off._

"_Well, now that our sisters are here and interrupted us, there's no point in continuing," he acknowledged. "That puts us at a tie. Shall we move onto something else?"_

_Ephraim glared determinedly at my brother. "Fine. What do you say to jousting?"_

_Within minutes, they went to get horses._

_And, to make a long story short, that's how it went for the rest of the day. And each time they finished a challenge, they grew more and more competitive and angry towards each other. Eirika and I kept our distance and observed them quietly, unless we were having a whispered conversation between ourselves. Near sunset, while they were arguing about the elevation of the land being unsuitable for a footrace, we heard King Fado calling the twins in. We headed back up to the castle where the carriage waited to take the twins back to Renais._

_Feeling depressed about having them leaving so soon, I said goodbye to both of them, trying not to cry. Eirika promised that we would see each other very soon. My spirits lifting after this promise, I waved to them even after their carriage had disappeared from sight._

_Innes didn't bother to say goodbye to either of them; he just went back into the castle with a contemptuous look directed at Ephraim, which he instantly returned._

_The rest of the night was a blur, but I remember opening a specific present after a wonderful birthday dinner. It didn't have a name on the packaging, and Father didn't remember putting it there. I opened it with caution, and gasped._

_It was a hand-made locket. The chain was made of a kind of shiny black stone and it felt like water under my fingers. The actual locket part was wooden, with the same black stone embedded in the center. Inside, I found, instead of a picture, a folded note. It read:_

"_To Tana-_

_Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk today, but I want you to know that I really like you. I'm sure we'll see each other again very soon. Happy Birthday!_

_Ephraim"_

_My heart was caught in my throat at that moment. He DID notice me! And he likes me a lot! I felt like my consciousness left my body and was sailing through the sky. I pocketed the locket and decided, at that moment, that it was the best present I've ever gotten._

_All in all, it was a good birthday, especially now that I have two new friends to share the next ones with!_

Ephraim put down the diary. He always thought that Tana was a child at heart, and judging by the entry, she was the same when they had first met. He admired that about her; her innocence and sweetness made her very easy to get along with.

He had to be honest with himself: he vaguely remembered Tana at her celebration, since he was so intent on overcoming Innes in the various challenges that they had that day. Therefore, he couldn't say that he didn't deserve the guilt that coursed through his body after reading the entry on top of all the bad feelings of reading the diary in the first place.

However, he did remember making the locket (he actually intended it to be a necklace) for her. Still bearing scars for his disastrous woodcutting skills, he was able to make a crude locket that had a notch in the center that would open with the right amount of force applied to it (this was an accident). To make it seem more appealing, he asked a blacksmith to make a chain and jewel out of some obsidian rock he found. He also remembered that he had written the note before he left and stuffed the hastily wrapped gift into a pile of gifts in the castle dining room.

Looking over the entry again… Ephraim began thinking about Tana's reaction whenever he smiled at her, or when she complemented him on his spear skills. It got Ephraim to think that… maybe she had a crush on him?

It wasn't as if he hadn't known it all along. True, he wasn't gifted in brainpower in the area of romance, but he always had a suspicion that Tana had feelings for him. But were they true feelings of love? No, he decided, it was just a childish crush. It was cute, sure, but if they truly fell in love, problems would arise, and Tana would surely know that. For example, there was the matter of the heir of the throne of Renais that would stand in the way of their relationship.

If he accepted the position and took Tana as his bride, his enemies, which he had plenty of, would use Tana to get to him. She was once before lured into a Grado trap due to her love (or was it? She just wanted to go with him…) for him, and it almost got her killed. He couldn't endanger her like that.

If Ephraim let Eirika take the throne and, recalling a conversation between Eirika, Lyon, and himself, travel as a mercenary, Tana would beg to come with him. He couldn't leave her behind, but he doubted that she could stand the intense conditions that he would. After all, though she was a well-trained Pegasus knight, she just wasn't made for fighting for a living.

There were hundreds of other reasons, too. And, of course, she was Innes' sister. That thought drove Ephraim to his conformation that what Tana was feeling towards him was just a crush and to his decision to put the diary out of his mind. _'She deserves someone more worthy of her,'_ he thought in a final sort of way, although his insides churned when he thought it.

All of a sudden, a faint gust of wind brushed past the tent and woke Ephraim out of his reverie. He hastily stuffed the diary back under the pillow, wondering how long he had been here and when Innes or Tana would be back anytime soon. As he left the tent, only one thought echoed through his head:

'_It's just a crush…'_

* * *

YES! I'm DONE!

This fic will only have about three chapters in it, although I might add more if inspiration hits.

Goodbye for now! (teleports out of there)


End file.
